View source for Talk:Muhammad/FAQ

<noinclude>{{pp-semi-indef}} {{FAQ page}}</noinclude>

Many of these questions arise frequently on the talk page concerning Muhammad.

[[File:Information.svg|20px]] '''To view an explanation to the answer, click the <nowiki>[show]</nowiki> link to the right of the question.'''

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|q=Q1<nowiki>:</nowiki> Shouldn't all the images of Muhammad be removed because they might offend Muslims?
|a='''A1''': {{further|Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not censored|Wikipedia:Content disclaimer}}
There is a prohibition of depicting Muhammad in certain Muslim communities. This prohibition is not universal among Muslim communities. For a discussion, see [[Depictions of Muhammad]] and [[Aniconism in Islam]].

Wikipedia is not bound by any religious prohibitions, and it is an encyclopedia that strives to represent all topics from a [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|neutral point of view]], and therefore '''[[Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not censored|Wikipedia is not censored]] for the sake of any particular group.''' So long as they are relevant to the article and do not violate any of Wikipedia's existing [[Wikipedia:policies and guidelines|policies]], nor the laws of [[Wikimedia Foundation#Hardware|locations where Wikipedia's servers]] are hosted, no content or images will be removed from Wikipedia because people find them objectionable or offensive. (See also: [[Wikipedia:Content disclaimer]].)

Wikipedia does not single out Islam in this. There is content that may be equally offensive to other religious people, such as the 1868 photograph shown at [[Bahá'u'lláh]] (offensive to adherents of the [[Bahá'í Faith]]), or the account of Scientology's "secret doctrine" at [[Xenu]] (offensive to adherents of [[Scientology]]), or the account at [[Timeline of human evolution]] (offensive to adherents of [[young Earth creationism]]). Submitting to all these various sensitivities would make writing a neutral encyclopedia impossible.
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|q=Q2<nowiki>:</nowiki> Aren't the images of Muhammad false?
|a='''A2''': No claim is made about the accuracy of the depictions of Muhammad. The artists who painted these images lived hundreds of years after Muhammad and could not have seen him themselves. This fact is made absolutely clear in the image captions. The images are duly presented as notable 14th- to 17th-century Muslim artwork depicting Muhammad, not as contemporary portraits. See [[Depictions of Muhammad]] for a more detailed discussion of Muslim artwork depicting Muhammad.

Similar artistic interpretations are used in articles for [[Homer]], [[Charlemagne]], [[Paul of Tarsus]], and many other historical figures. When no accurate images (i.e. painted after life, or photographs) exist, it is a longstanding practice on Wikipedia to incorporate images that are historically significant artwork and/or typical examples of popular depictions. Using images that readers understand to be artistic representations, so long as those images illustrate the topic effectively, is considered to be more instructive than using no image at all. Random recent depictions may be removed as [[WP:UNDUE|undue]] in terms of notability, while historical artwork (in this case, of the Late Medieval or Ottoman period) adds significantly to the presentation of how Muhammad was being topicalized throughout history.

These depictions are not intended as factual representations of Muhammad's face; rather, they are merely artists' conceptions. Such portrayals generally convey a certain aspect of a particular incident, most commonly the event itself, or maybe the act, akin to the Western genre of [[history painting]]. The depictions are, thus, not meant to be accurate in the sense of a modern [[photography|photograph]], and are presented here for what they are: yet another form in which Muhammad was depicted.

None of these pictures hold a central position in the article, as evident by their placement, nor are they an attempt to insult the subject. Several factions of Christianity oppose the use of [[hagiography|hagiographic]] imagery (even to the point of fighting over it), but the images are still on Wikipedia, exactly for what they are—i.e. artistic renditions of said people.
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|q=Q3<nowiki>:</nowiki> How can I hide the images using my personal Wikipedia settings?
|a='''A3''': If you do not wish to view Muhammad images, you can hide the depictions in this article from your personal account by following these steps:

# Sign in or [[Special:CreateAccount|create an account]]
# Click on <u>[[Special:MyPage/common.css|this link]]</u> to modify your personal CSS stylesheet (if no page is there already, just go ahead and create a page)
# Click the edit button, and add the following line: <code>.page-Muhammad .depiction {display: none;}</code>
# Click {{button|{{int:Publishchanges}}|bgcolor2=#BBE}} or {{button|{{int:Publishpage}}|bgcolor2=#BBE}} to save the preference

Please note that this will not hide the images for other users, or from yourself if you log out of your account.

'''Alternatives:''' If you do not have an account, and do not wish to register an account, you can disable all images on Wikipedia by [[Help:Options to hide an image#Go to the mobile Wikipedia site (en.m.wikipedia.org) and disable all images|going to the mobile version]] of the website (<nowiki>en.m.wikipedia.org</nowiki>), then going to "settings" and choosing "images off".

You may also block a list of specified images, following the format of [[Talk:Muhammad/images/example css|this example]].

Experienced JavaScript programmers can hide depictions of Muhammad on the desktop site using [[Greasemonkey]] or a similar tool.
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|q=Q4<nowiki>:</nowiki> Why does the infobox at the top of the article contain a stylized logo and not a picture of Muhammad?
|a='''A4''': This has been discussed many times on [[Talk:Muhammad]] and many debates can be found in the archives.  Because calligraphic depictions of Muhammad are the most common and recognizable worldwide, the current consensus is to include a calligraphic depiction of Muhammad in the infobox and artists' depictions further down in the article. [[Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Muhammad images/Question 2|An RFC discussion]] confirmed this consensus.
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|q=Q5<nowiki>:</nowiki> Why is Muhammad's name not followed by ''(pbuh)'' or ''(saw)'' in the article?
|a='''A5''': {{further|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Islam-related articles#Muhammad}}
Wikipedia's [[WP:HONORIFIC|biography style guidelines]] recommend omitting all [[honorific]]s, such as '''The Prophet''', '''(The) Holy Prophet''', '''([[pbuh]])''', or '''(saw)''', that precede or follow Muhammad's name. This is because many editors consider such honorifics as promoting an Islamic point of view instead of a [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|neutral point of view]] which Wikipedia is required to maintain. [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (people)]] also recommends against the use of titles or honorifics, such as '''Prophet''', unless it is the simplest and most neutral way to deal with [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation|disambiguation]]. When disambiguation is necessary, the recommended form is '''the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]]'''.
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|q=Q6<nowiki>:</nowiki> Why does the article say that Muhammad is the "founder" of Islam?
|a='''A6''': While the Muslim viewpoint about Muhammad is already presented in the article, a Wikipedia biography article should emphasize historical and scholarly viewpoints. The contention that Islam has always existed is a religious belief, grounded in faith, and Wikipedia cannot promote religious beliefs as facts. Because no religion known as "Islam" exists in any recorded history prior to Muhammad, and Muhammad created the conditions for Islam to spread by unifying Arabia into a single religious polity, he effectively founded the establishment of Islam as the dominant religion in the region. The word "founder" is used in that context, and not intended to imply that Muhammad invented the religion he introduced to Arabia.
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|q=Q7<nowiki>:</nowiki> Why does it look like the article is biased toward secular or "Western" references?
|a='''A7''': {{further|Wikipedia:Assume good faith|Wikipedia:Neutral point of view}}
Accusations of bias toward Western references are often made when an objection is raised against the display of pictures of Muhammad or lack of honorifics when mentioning Muhammad.  All articles on Wikipedia are required to present a [[WP:NPOV|neutral point of view]]. This neutrality is sometimes mistaken for hostility. Note that exactly the same guidelines apply to articles about [[Christianity]] or any other religion.

In addition, this article is hosted on the English-language Wikipedia. While references in languages other than English are not automatically inappropriate, English-language references are preferred, because they are of the most use to the typical reader. This therefore predisposes the material used in this article to some degree (see [[WP:NONENG]]).
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|q=Q8<nowiki>:</nowiki> Why can't I edit this article as a new or anonymous user?
|a='''A8''': Persistent disruption of the page has forced us to disable editing by anonymous editors and new accounts, while still allowing edits by more experienced users who are familiar with Wikipedia's editorial policies and guidelines. This is likely to remain the case for the foreseeable future.

In any case, the [[Creative Commons licenses|Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License]] grants everybody the right to republish this article elsewhere, and even to modify it themselves, so long as the original authors (Wikipedia contributors) are also credited and the derivative work is distributed under the same license.
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|q=Q9<nowiki>:</nowiki> Can censorship be employed on Wikipedia?
|a='''A9''': No. The official policy is that [[WP:CENSOR|Wikipedia is not censored]].
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|q=Q10<nowiki>:</nowiki> Because Muhammad married an underage girl, should the article say he was a pedophile?
|a='''A10''':

This question has been actively discussed in [[Talk:Muhammad]], and those discussions are [[Talk:Muhammad/Archive 22|archived]]. According to most traditional sources, Muhammad consummated his marriage to his third wife [[Aisha]] when she was nine years old. This was not considered unusual in Muhammad's culture and time period; therefore, there is no reason for the article to refer to Muhammad in the context of pedophilia.<ref>C. (Colin) Turner, ''Islam: The Basics'', Routledge Press, pp.34–35</ref> Even today, in parts of the world, the legal [[age of consent]] is as young as eleven years old, or any age inside of a marriage. In any case, any modern controversy about Aisha's age is not best dealt with in a biography about Muhammad. See the articles on [[Aisha]] and {{section link|Criticism of Muhammad|Aisha}} for further information.
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